A New Year's Message from Dani to the Church

" And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to
awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed." (Romans 13:11)

In the verse above, Paul exhorts us as Christ-followers to wake up from our slumber or sleep.
Here we would like to examine five kinds of sleep from Bible .

1. Death: Death is also equated to sleep. When Lazarus
was dead, Lord Jesus said that he was asleep. Spiritual
death is also a sleep. As Satan has blinded the spiritual
perception of people, they are asleep and would go into
everlasting sleep unless they turn to Lord Jesus Christ.
Awake to wake up many from eternal death.
The first and foremost awakening that should happen in a
Christian’s life is to wake up a person’s life
from the spiritual slumber, by sharing Gospel. When one
accept Jesus as Lord and savior with repentance and
humility he/she awakens from eternal death to life.
So the Church must awaken to wake up many from eternal death to eternal life.

2. Trance: Peter went into trance, where he was
physically sleeping but spiritually seeing God speaking to
him through a dream. That changed his perception about
the Gentiles. Therein, he was awakened to recognize other nations (groups of people).
This trance is good for His kingdom. Peter is a good
example, he was not able to understand the truth that all
people are created in the image of God irrespective of
their nationality. Up until this trance, he was not considering the salvation of
other people outside of Israel. The Lord had to wake him up with a trance that
changed his perspective or attitude towards other people.
The Church must wake up and go to other nations.

3. Deep sleep: Jonah after fleeing on a ship to Tarshish
went into deep sleep. He was not bothered or disturbed by
the commotion due to storm, wind, waves and shrieking cry
of the people. He was shaken out of sleep, when he
confessed his fleeing attempt from God’s plan.
Likewise, the Church must awaken to obey His commands.
God has great purpose for his people. He could use
humble, simple people to fulfill his great, wonderful
purposes. He wants us to wake up and obey the purpose
behind His call in our life, Go and preach the Gospel to
whole world.

4. Careless sleep: Samson slept in Delilah’s lap not
knowing that he was losing the indwelling presence of the
Holy Spirit and his power. When he woke up he not only
lost his physical strength, but also his spiritual
prowess.
The Church must awaken to God's purposes.
When using all our energy, knowledge, time, resources,
talents for Godly purposes, we find our true purpose in life. For that purpose,
God filled us with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

5. Drowsiness: This is lack of mental alertness. Or it
could be described as state of inactivity. Others may
think the person is awake and alert, but in reality, he
would be sleeping.
The Church must awaken to multiply Talents.
Some people are careless and negligent in their lives.
Like the person with one talent in the Parable of
Talents; many in the Church dig, bury and hide their talents instead of having
an attitude to utilize and multiply them. Be alert to share what God
has given us.

Now we are one year closer to Jesus' return. Let us be
conscious about the time and act accordingly. Let the Church awaken from her sleep and live to spread a passion for His glory as faithful servants.

An Invitation from Dani

The call.

It is the traditional belief that Gospel came to India through a missionary journey of the Apostle Thomas in the first century. Two thousand years later the message is poised to penetrate 500,000 unreached Indian villages. There are many reasons that it has taken so long for the Gospel to spread in India. Among them are the vast cultural, geographical and ethno-linguistic changes from place to place. Although some areas share common cultural foundations, no two villages are alike. Dialects may change within a matter of miles. For this reason, it is very difficult for an Indian missionary to reach all these villages even though he may even speak the local language. Often the missionary himself must be accepted before his message will be.

Here e3 Partners, we are committed to equipping the local people to overcome these barriers and reach their own villages with the Gospel. We also encourage them by bringing them along to evangelize neighboring villages. These Indian nationals are then equipped to evangelize and establish new reproducing churches throughout their region. This is the greatest work given to mankind - to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ both near and far. Come to India and be a part of this wonderful work of God! Pray for us as we engage the lost!! Give generously so that more may be reached!!! Be part of e3 South Asia. We welcome you.

Answers to Questions about Becoming a Missionary

By John Piper November 2, 2005

Here are eight objections and a biblical response.

1. “I am not smart enough.”
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:20-21)
“Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27)

2. “My body and my personality are not strong enough.”
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) “[Christ] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

3. “I am not a good speaker.”
“Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” (1 Corinthians 1:17) “Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” (Exodus 4:10-12)

4. “I am afraid of the horrors I read about in the newspapers.”
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore (katartisei—“mend” or “repair” your horribly disfigured body when the lions in the coliseum are through with you), confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:8-10)

5. “I am afraid I won’t be fruitful”
Your responsibility is not to be fruitful but to be faithful.
“And [Jesus] said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29) “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

6. “There is plenty to do here.”
True, but there is a division of labor and God calls some to MISSIONS, not just evangelism. The difference is seen in Romans 15:19-24: “So that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I [Paul] have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named. . . Now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions . . . I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain.” How could Paul say there was no room for work when there were millions in that region to be evangelized? Because evangelism is not missions.

7. “I am not married.”
The best spouse is found on the path of obedience.
“An excellent wife [or husband!] who can find? She [and he!] is far more precious than jewels” (Proverbs 31:10). The finding is exceedingly hard. It will happen on the road of obedience.

8. “I fear that when I get there it might turn out I made a mistake and will come home with shame.” Which is worse, shame for having endeavored to follow Christ in missions, or fear to venture? Shame before others for making a mistake will not hurt you; it will humble you and can make you more useful in a new situation. But fear will make you useless everywhere. Consider Ecclesiastes 11:4 and what it says about risk: “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” Meaning: without taking the risk of sowing when the seed might be blown away and reaping when the rain might ruin the harvest, you will starve.

Oh, how precious is the freeing word of God,
Pastor John

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